Hunted
by Alicia457
Summary: Summary: Kili always has dwelt in his brothers shadow. But what happens when he sees an oppertunity to change that and prove himself? Rated T just to be safe. Characters all belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. Many thanks to Bluestarshine for wanting to be Beta - reading this story. A pic from kaciart gave me the idea to write this story. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Hunted**

Chapter 1

Dís woke up from the sounds of someone walking down the hallway. She sighed and looked out of her bedroom window. The first signs of dawn were already showing in the sky, but life outside had not yet begun to wake up. This couldn't be Thorin, he left before dawn everyday to work in the forge.

"I wonder which one of them will be awake already, at this early hour." she muttered to herself.

She pushed down the covers and stepped out of her bed. She softly opened the door to the hallway and saw light coming from the kitchen. When Dís pushed open the door she found her oldest son standing at the table. He didn't notice her, for he was standing with his back towards her while packing some bread and apples in a bag.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked him.

The boy jumped, surprised at hearing her voice. "Good morning, mum," he said eventually. "I'm going out fishing with my friends at the lake near the forest."

"Fíli, how many times do I still have to tell you that I don't want you to run of without telling me where you're going?" Dís said to him.

"I'm sorry, mum. I didn't want to wake you up.", Fíli answered.

"You could've told me yesterday". She looked at him sternly.

Fíli lowered his gaze to the floor. "Uhm, actually they came by this morning and tapped at my room's window and asked me if I wanted to come with."

"Oh, is that right?" Fíli nodded. "Then tell your friends that I would rather want that they ask you at least a day before, if they want you to go with them."

"Yes, mum." He replied.

"Now of you go. You don't want to let them wait, do you?"

Fíli looked up in surprise. "You mean I can still go?"

"Of course you can, sweetie".

A bright smile formed on Fíli's face as he leant forward quickly and gave her a small kiss on her cheek.

"I love you, mum!" He said to her.

"I love you too." She replied.

Fíli took his bag from the table and started walking towards the front door.

"Fíli, one more thing." He turned around to look at her.

"I want you to be home before dinner."

"I will be, mum." Fíli said, before opening the door and stepping outside.

Dís followed him outside.

"Well, I'm off."

Next thing she knew he started running, only to stop for a moment to wave at her. Dís waved back at him, but he never saw it, because he had already started running again. She smiled and shook her head.

"He's always so eager and sometimes even a handfull. Well both of them are, him and his brother. There is never a dull moment with my two boys". Dís thought to herself with a smile on her face, as she went back inside and closed the door behind her.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it. Please review, but keep it a bit gentil since this is my first story. I'll try to update as soon as possible ;)<br>**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author note: At the start of the first chapter I forgot to mention that, in this story, Kíli is 13 years old and Fíli is 18 years old. So I just tell you at the start of chapter 2.**

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><p><em><span>Cha<span>__pter 2_

Dís headed back to her bedroom to get dressed, and when she was done she seated herself in front of her mirror and started to braid her hair. She looked up when the door opened behind her and Kíli walked in.

"Good morning, sweetie. Did you sleep well?" she asked him.

"Morning, mom. And yes I did." Kíli replied.

Dís looked at her youngest son closely and noticed that he was rather looking down.

"Kíli? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." he answered.

She could tell that he wasn't telling the truth.

"You know that you can't lie to me, Kíli. What's bothering you? You know that you can always tell me." she said to him.

"Mom, do you know where Fíli is?" he asked.

"Yes. He went out fishing with his friends. He left early this morning."

"Oh…" Kíli said softly. "I wanted to spend some time with him today."

He fixed his gaze at the floor, but she could still see the dissapointment in his eyes. Dís stood up from the chair she had been sitting on and walked towards her youngest son.

"Oh, honey…" she said, while hugging him. "I'm sure he will spend some time with you when he comes home."

Kíli looked up at her. "But that will be only for a couple of hours, mom!"

She sighed. "I know, sweetie. But why don't you ask him if he wants to spend tomorrow with you when he comes home?"

Kíli seemed to ponder the thought for a moment before he eventually spoke again.

"Okay. Mom, do you mind if I go out in town?" He asked.

"Of course not. But why don't we have some breakfast first?"

"Okay."

They left the room together and walked in to the kitchen, where Kíli immediately sat down on a a chair. He crossed his arms in front of him on the table, and rested his chin on top of them. It was clear that it was still bothering him that he couldn't be with his brother now. Dís set some bread and cheese on the table and seated herself next to him. While they were eating not a word was spoken.

After they had finished breakfast, Dís started to put away the remaining food. It was then she noticed the basket that was standing on the cabinet. She looked in it and shook her head, realising that Thorin had forgotten to take his food with him to the forge again. When Kíli stood up from the chair and headed for the door, she called him back.

"Can you take this to your uncle at the forge before you go into town?" she asked.

"Yes, mom."

Dís gave the basket to Kíli and hugged him.

"Well, go on then." she said. "Oh, and one more thing Kíli. I want you to be home before dinner."

"I will be, mom." Kíli replied, as he opened the door.

He stepped out and closed the door behind him without looking back.

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><p>When Fíli reached the lake he discovered that his friends were already waiting for him.<p>

"There you are! Finally. It feels like we have been waiting here for ages!" Bódin said.

"What kept you?" Lóni asked.

"I started to think that you had gotten scared." Náli said, joking.

"My mother wanted to talk with me first before I left." Fíli said while getting his bag off his back and placing it on the ground.

"And of what should I be afraid? The fish? I'm not scared of anything." He said, smiling.

"Well then. Let's get the gear."

They headed for the bushes where they always hid their fishing gear, and once they had gathered everything they then walked over to the lake. They placed the fishing net in the water and secured it on the rocks at the edge of the lake, away from the place where they would be using their fishing rods. When they were done, they all grabbed their fishing rods and went to their own fishing spot.

"Well, let the fishing begin!" Lóni said.

"Yes!" the others exclaimed together.

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><p>The sun was shining down and it was extremely warm outside as Kíli walked down the road to the village. But in the far distance there was a large, dark cloud hovering across the mountains. The clouds promised that rain and darkness would come later.<p>

"Normally I would be doing something like this with Fíli." Kíli muttered to himself.

He hadn't done something with his brother for more then a week. Fíli always went out with his friends, it made Kíli feel lonely and he hated it. While he was lost in his toughts he had reached the forge where his uncle worked. He stood in front of the entrance to the forge for a moment, taking a deep breath while trying to calm down his raging thoughts. Once he was finally calm, Kíli opened the door and stepped inside.

Thorin stood in the silence, looking carefully through his orders for the day. He definitely had a lot of work to do, and most of the orders that he'd received were meant to be finished before the next morning came upon them.

"I better get started." He said to himself.

He gathered the materials he needed and headed to the back of the forge. When he had started a fire in the fireplace, he heated some metal and started working on it. Thorin was so occupied with his work, that hours went by without him noticing it. He even didn't notice when someone entered the forge.

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><p>Kíli looked around the forge quickly. His uncle wasn't in the front part of the forge, so he was most likely still working at the back. He walked around the counter and walked in the next room, where he found his uncle at the anvil, hammering on a piece of iron<p>

"Uncle?" He recieved no reaction.

"Uncle!" Kíli said, louder this time.

Thorin looked up from his work. "Oh, hello Kíli. What brings you here?"

"Mom asked me to bring you this. You forgot it at home this morning." he said, and handed the basket over to Thorin.

"Oh. Well, thank your mother for being so attentive to send it here for me."

"Okay." Kíli simply said.

"And thank you for bringing it here, of course."

"Sure."

Thorin then noticed that Kíli was looking rather depressed.

"What is amiss, lad?" Thorin asked.

"Nothing." was the only reply he got.

"Kíli…" Thorin looked sternly at his youngest nephew.

"It's just that Fíli hasn't spent one moment with me for more than a week. And I hate it!" Kíli finally answered.

"And why is that?"

"I barely see him anymore. He leaves very early in the morning and often comes home late."

Thorin kept silent, not sure what was really bothering Kíli. So he just decided to wait untill his nephew would continue talking.

"I just want him to notice me again." Kíli continued. "He spends more time with his friends than he does with me."

Kíli averted his eyes, but it was still very clearly visible to Thorin that there were tears showing in his eyes.

"_So that's what is really bothering him then."_ Thorin thought.

He sighed and, abandoning his work for a moment, walked towards where Kíli was standing.

"You feel lonely, don't you?" He asked him.

Kíli nodded and started to sob. Thorin hugged him close.

"Look, Kíli. Fíli just wants to be around children of his own age. But that doesn't mean he doesn't love you anymore. You're still his brother. He just needs more time to himself sometimes." He explained.

"I don't understand." Kíli said.

"One day when you're older you will, lad."

They stood there in silence for a moment. When Kíli had finally calmed down a bit again, Thorin released him. He kept looking at him however.

"Have you told Fíli about how you feel about this?"

Kíli shook his head.

"Maybe you really should talk about this. I'm sure he'll understand."

"Are you sure?" the boy asked.

"I am." He smiled at him.

Kíli smiled a little at that and gave Thorin a hug.

"Thanks, uncle."

Thorin nodded.

"And what were you going to do on this warm day?" Thorin asked.

"Oh, just hanging around town." Kíli replied.

"Well, you better get going then. You don't want to be stuck in this forge, do you?"

Kíli smirked a little at that. "No. Well, I'll be on my way then. Bye, uncle."

Kíli ran out of the door before Thorin could even say something else. He was in such a hurry that he didn't even bother to close the door. Thorin laughed at that and closed the door.

"_Such a handful"_ was the last thing he thought before returning to his work.

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><p><strong>So here is chapter 2! I really hope you enjoyed reading it. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.<strong>

**Also I want to thank Bluestarshine, Princess Quill and a Guest (I'm sure you know who you are and I hope you will ever read this(; ) for their kind reviews of Chapter 1.  
><strong>

**The names ofcourse (as I already mentioned in the summary) the names of the characters belong to J.R.R Tolkien, except for the name Bódin wich I found on this website: _Khordaldrum (Dwarven) Name Generator _(I'm sorry I didn't use a link to the website. I wasn't able to place it here and I don't know how to fix that).**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As Kíli walked through town he thought to himself that, for being such a warm day, there were a lot of people outside doing their shopping, while merchants were placing their wares outside or trying to sell them. Kíli looked around curiously. There were bakers, tailors, toy-makers, jewellers and many others all over the main square. When Kíli spotted a familiar face, he walked over to the dwarf.

"Hello, Bofur." he said.

Bofur turned around and looked at him with a grin.

"Hello lad," Bofur answered. "What brings you here in this part of town?"

"Just hanging around a bit." Kíli said.

"Oh. And where's your brother, if I may ask? It's the first time I've seen you without him around."

"He went with his friends today." Kíli said while looking down.

"It seems you don't like that, do you lad?" Bofur asked.

"Not really." was the only thing Kíli replied.

Sensing that the young dwarf didn't want to continue talking about the matter, Bofur decided to stop questioning him about it. They both remained silent for a while, not certain what to say. Kíli then noticed the large pile of boxes standing next a rather large wooden table that was placed in front of Bofur's shop.

"Bofur?"

"Yes, laddie?"

"What's in all those boxes?" Kíli asked the other dwarf curiously.

Bofur smiled, picked one of the boxes and opened it.

"Toys." he said while showing Kíli a wooden animal.

After he had carefully placed the toy back in the box, Bofur looked from the boxes to Kíli.

"Lad, would you do me a favour?" Bofur asked him.

"Sure. What is it you want me to do?"

"Can you take the toys out of their boxes and place them on the table?" Bofur asked. "I've got a lot of other boxes still at the back of my store that I still have to bring outside, and I don't have enough time to get them out here and unpack them on my own."

"Of course I will do that!" Kíli said, with a broad smile on his face.

He was happy he had something to do now.

"Well, if you would need me I'm in the back of the store."

"Alright."

Kíli walked around the table and came to a halt in front of the boxes. They were piled up so high that they reached a long way above his head. He stood on the tips of his toes to try to take one of the boxes. When that didn't work, he tried to jump as high as possible. When that didn't work either, he gave up on it and walked inside the shop.

"Bofur!" Kíli shouted.

Bofur appeared from around a corner. "What's the matter, lad?"

"I can't reach the highest boxes." Kíli said sheepishly.

"Oh, is that so?" Bofur said, grinning. "I've got just the thing for you then. Wait here."

Bofur disappeared in the back of his shop again. Kíli could hear him rumbling for a moment before he returned, carrying a rather large box.

"Well, this should be doing the trick." Bofur announced.

He placed the box close to the pile. Kíli crawled on the box, reached for the upper boxes containing the toys and picked one. He jumped down and walked to the table.

"It's seems you'll manage now.", Bofur said while looking at Kíli. Kíli only nodded his reply.

That was enough of a reply for him, and Bofur walked back in the store again. Kíli kept emptying the boxes and sorting out the toys. He was so occupied with his work, he didn't notice Bofur joining him. They continued for two hours until finally all toys were placed on the table.

"It seems we're done. Thanks for helping me out, lad!"

"It's nothing." Kíli said.

Suddenly his stomach growled and Bofur started laughing.

"It looks like someone's hungry. And I suppose you didn't bring any food with you?"

"No, I didn't."

Kíli could curse himself now for not bringing anything to eat with him. Bofur got a leather pouch out of his pocket. Opening it, he took something out.

"Here you go." Bofur said while he handed him some money.

"You don't have to…" Kíli started protesting, only to be cut short by Bofur.

"Go get something to eat with it, lad. See it as some kind of payment. And buy something for your brother as well. I'm sure you know where he went."

"I do. Thanks, Bofur." Kíli said.

"I should be thanking you for helping me out, lad!" Bofur answered. "Well enjoy the rest of your day off."

Kíli nodded and, after having raised his hand as a last greeting to Bofur, he raced of. After he bought some bread and bacon, he headed for the lake where he knew Fíli was.

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><p>Fíli and his friends had a rather good time at the lake. They always competed with each other to see who could catch the most fish. And, since he was a better fisher then the others, Fíli was winning again.<p>

"Now you're winning again!" Bódin complained. "Why don't you give us a chance to win once in a while as well?"

"Are you jealous just because I'm better then you?" Fíli asked with a smile on his face.

Bódin only grumbled something unintelligible.

"Oh, c'mon Bódin. It's just a game. What does it matter who wins or loses?", Náli said.

"Yeah. Isn't it more important that we have fun and that we can take these fish home?" Lóni added.

"I'm going to check the fishing net.", was the only reply they got.

When Bódin was out of their hearing range the three other dwarves looked at each other and started laughing. Picking up their fishing rods, they started fishing again. They were so caught up in their game that they didn't notice the fact that the clouds above them were turning darker.

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><p><strong>So here's chapter 3. I hope you really liked this chapter as well and don't forget to review ;)<strong>

**Thanks to everyone who has posted a review, followed and favorited this story. Those make me really happy and make me want to continue with it.  
><strong>

**Here some answers to reviews of persons I can't answer with a PM:****  
><strong>

_** 101olive4u: Thank you for your very kind review. It feels really great that you would take the time to read my story. Thank you so much! ;)**_

_** Angela: I'm really glad you like this story. As for the things Kíli will do to try to prove himself, you will have to wait some time since I don't know yet what way **__**I'm going to take with the story myself compleetly. I hope you will keep watching out for other chapters as well. I will really try to update as often and as fast possible. Thank you so much for reading ;)**_


	4. Chapter 4

**In this chapter I added a flashback. In this flashback Kíli is 6 years old and Fíli 11 years old. Enjoy!**

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><p><span>Chapter 4<span>

Kíli was walking at the borders of the forest. He was searching for the path that would lead him trough the forest and to the lake. It has been 7 years ago since he came to these parts, following Fíli. But he still knew where to look.

Kíli smiled at the memory.

***Flashback***

_Kíli woke up from the door opening. Opening his eyes a little, he could see Fíli walking out of the room they shared._

"_Fíli?" Kíli called out to his brother. _

_But Fíli never heard him, for he had already closed the door behind him. Sitting up in the bed, Kíli rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Looking out of the window, he saw Fíli walking down the path and towards the woods. Getting out of bed, he quickly dressed himself. _

_He hurried outside the house, quickly closed the front door and ran down the path, following Fíli. There was already quite some distance between them, so Fíli didn't see him. But he still could see his brother, so that made it easy to follow him. Fíli would only have told him to go back home when he would've noticed him. And Kíli really wanted to know where he was going and go with him._

_But suddenly he couldn't see his brother anymore. Kíli paniced a little and started running faster._

_When he reached the place where he had last seen his brother, he looked around. There was no sign of Fíli however. Then he saw the path on the left side of the road he had been following until now. It leaded deeper in the forest._

_Looking around for another moment, Kíli knew that Fíli couldn't have gone any other way so fast except for the path that went deeper in the forest._

_How much he wanted to follow his brother, he didn't dare to go into the forest. It scared him. Certainly now the sky had turned darker and made the shadows of the trees grow even longer. _

"_Fíli!", Kíli yelled from the entrance of the path. There was no reaction._

"_Fíli!" Kíli yelled again, louder this time. But still there came no reaction. Fíli probably couldn't hear him anymore._

_Kíli just stood there for a while, thinking about what he would do now. After a while he decided to wait for his brother to come back through the forest, so he seated himself underneath a tree. _

_He sat there, listening to the sounds in the forest and looking up at the clouds wich were drifting by and getting darker every minute. _

_Kíli had been sitting there for nearly two hours when it started to rain. Drawing up his knees against his chest he moved even closer to the trunk of the tree he sat under, hoping it would shelter him more against the rain that was now falling down from the sky. It didn't help much however and he was soon soaked. He wrapped his arms around his knees and laid his head on them and closed his eyes. He shivered. It was really getting cold. _

"_Kíli! What are you doing out here, sitting in the rain?" _

_He opened his eyes and looked up. His brother was standing in front of him, looking annoyed._

"_I f-followed you", Kíli said with chattering teeth._

"_And why did you follow me?", Fíli asked him._

_His brother now looked even more annoyed then he already was a moment ago._

"_You l-left without t-telling me. I w-wanted to know where y-you were going. And I didn't w-want to be alone."_

_His teeth were chattering even harder now and the shivering had increased as well._

_Fíli's expression softened a bit. He sat down on his knees in front of Kíli._

"_I tought you were still asleep", Fíli said. _

_Kíli shook his head. _

"_I w-woke up when you opened the d-door of our bedroom."_

"_I never noticed", Fíli answered._

_Fíli felt a bit guilty, for he was supposed to be looking after his little brother._

"_I'm s-sorry, brother." Kíli said._

"_It's alright", Fíli answered while hugging his brother close._

_Kíli wrapped his arms around his older brother's waist. _

_Fíli grew a bit worried when he registered how much Kíli was shaking due to the cold._

"_Y-you're not angry at me?" Kíli asked._

"_You know I can't remain angry with you, you silly", Fíli said teasingly._

_Kíli merely nodded his head. They didn't say anything for a moment until Kíli broke the silence._

"_Brother, it's cold."Kíli said, sobbing slightly._

"_I know", He answered. "Come on. Let's go home. Then we can put on some dry clothes. And maybe we can play a game in front of the fire after that."_

"_Really?" Kíli asked._

_Fíli nodded and smiled. He knew exactly what his brother needed to be cheered up._

"_Okay", Kíli said with a wide smile on his face. He instantly forgot about the cold and followed his brother home._

***End of flashback***

When he had located the path, he slowly started to walk down it toward the lake.

"_It is even warmer now then it was when I was in the village. Like it wasn't warm enough already"_, Kíli tought.

When he had reached the end of the path he stood still for a moment, wondering if it really was a good idea to go to where Fíli and his friends were.

"_Only one way to find out"_, he tought to himself and he continued walking.

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><p>Fíli and his friends had gathered their fishing gear and hided them in the bushes again. Since it had started to get even warmer, they had decided to call it a day.<p>

After that they had removed their boots and were now sitting at the river bank with their feet in the water.

"It can't get possible any warmer than this", Bódin grumbled.

"Maybe we can do something else now", Fíli replied.

"You can't be serieus! It's much to warm for…"

Bódin never had the change to complete his sentence, for he got a lot of water thrown in his face.

Fíli sat next to him, grinning.

"Now you're going to get it!" Bódin said.

He pushed Fíli in the lake and jumped in after him. They started splashing at each other and wrestling.

"Water fight!" Lóni and Náli exclaimed, while jumping in the water.

They were so occupied, they didn't even notice they had a visitor who was walking towards them.

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><p><strong>So this is chapter 4. I hope you all liked it. <strong>

**I know that the flashback is the largest part in this story, but I really wanted to try it out. ****I also wanted to use it as an explanation how Kíli knew where he had to go. **

**This is the first time I use a flashback, so let me know what you think of it. **

**Please review. I really like it when people post a review. It gives me the courage to go on.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Guest replies:**

**Shreeg: Thank you so much for you're review. I will try to update other chapters as soon as possible. Unfortunately it takes a while to write new chapters. **

** As for how they will react on Kíli joining them, I can't tell you that yet. So you will have to wait for a little while still. What I can already tell you, is that **

** I already have an idea how it's going to be. But I also have to do some correcting to do. So in the meantime I hope you will enjoy this chapter as well ;)**

** Many Greetings, Alicia**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When Kíli got closer to the lake, he could see his brother making fun with his friends in the water. He immediatly felt jealous of the other dwarves. They had something he had not, and that was the attention of his brother. He wished he was in there with them, certainly on such a warm day as today.

"_Should I ask if I can join them?"_ He wondered.

Pondering about it for a moment, Kíli decided against asking it. He didn't know how his brother's friends would react on him joining them, but he was sure Fíli wouldn't like it. He hadn't asked him to come with, so that meant he didn't want him here to begin with.

So instead of joining the fun the others had, he walked over to one of the larger boulders at the side of the lake. Sitting down on it, he placed the bread and bacon next to him on the boulder. He drew up his knees and wrapped his arms around them. Then he rested his chin on top of his knees. Kíli looked at the clear, blue water and tried to block out the sounds of the dwarves that were having a lot of fun a bit further ahead. But he failed in doing so, and it made him feel even more miserable.

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><p>When Fíli had enough of being in the water, three hours had already passed.<p>

"Guys, I'm going out of the water now", he said to his friends.

"Okay", Lóni answered.

Fíli headed back for the shore, leaving his friends to there games. When he got closer to the shore, he noticed Kíli sitting on one of the rocks at the edge of the lake. Getting out of the water, Fíli walked over to his brother.

"Kíli?"

Kíli looked up from the water, where he had been staring at, and looked at Fíli.

"Hi, brother", he said.

"How long have you been here?" Fíli asked his brother, sitting next to him. It bothered him that he didn't notice Kíli any sooner.

"Oh, uhm… I'm already here for a couple of hours." Kíli said and smiled at his brother. The smile never reached his eyes, however.

"You could have called for me, Kíli. Then I would've come to you sooner."

"Nah, I didn't want to ruin your fun", Kíli replied.

Before Fíli could react on his brother's last remark, Bódin appeared next to him and looked at Kíli.

"And who is this?" Bódin asked.

"This is my younger brother, Kíli." Fíli said to his friend.

"And this is Bódin", he added while directing his attention back to his brother.

"Hello", Kíli said and smiled at the other dwarf.

"Hmpfh", was all Bódin gave to him as a reply before he stomped of.

Kíli's smile immediatly disappeared.

"What's wrong with him?", Kíli asked to Fíli.

Fíli only shrugged at that.

"He lost from me with fishing and I think he's a bit upset about that still. Don't mind him, little brother. He'll come around."

"So you defeated him quite hard then, didn't you?" Kíli asked.

Fíli grinned.

"I did. Those are mine." He said, pointing at two rather large buckets.

They were filled with fish until the edge. Kíli gawked at them.

"And we have to take all those fish home with us?"

"Ofcourse. I haven't caught all those fish for nothing." Fíli said, laughing softly at his brothers reaction. "But you will have to carry one of the buckets as well when we return home, for they are quite heavy."

"Okay", Kíli answered. "But aren't those buckets coming from the forge where uncle works?"

"Yes, they do. I borrowed them." Fíli said.

"Uncle doesn't even now you have them, does he?"

"No, he doesn't." Fíli said with a grin.

"You know, normally I'm the one who does things like that." Kíli said.

They both started laughing at that.

"Yes, you do. But sometimes it's not so bad if you do something different, right?" Fíli answered.

"I guess not."

They both fell silent and watched Lóni and Náli, who were still in the water, for a while.

"And what have you been doing most of the time today?" Fíli asked, wanting to break the silence.

"I helped Bofur at his shop", Kíli replied. "Oh, and I brought something with me."

He took the bread and bacon he had placed next to him, and showed it to his brother. Fíli looked a bit surprised at it.

"Where did you get it from?" Fíli asked.

"I bought it."

Fíli looked a bit sceptical to Kíli.

"What? Do you think I stole it?" Kíli asked, looking a bit hurted.

"No, brother. I would never think you stole anything." Fíli said with a reassuring smile. "It's just that, when you were little, you used to go to Bombur when you were hungry and he would always give you something for free. So I was thinking that that was the case now as well."

"Oh…" Kíli picked up a small rock, dropped it in the water and stared at the ripples that were forming. He remained silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry…" Kíli eventually said.

"It's alright." Fíli replied with a small smile.

"But it's not!" Kíli yelled and jumped to his feet. "I shouldn't have tought you were thinking that!"

"Kíli…" Fíli said, also standing up.

"Maybe I better get going."

Kíli started to walk away. Fíli quickly grabbed his younger brother's arm and yanked him back.

"Let me go!" Kíli yelled, trying to free his arm out of his brother's grasp.

"No, I won't." Fíli said, taking a tight hold on both of Kíli's shoulders.

"Please, Fíli. Just let me go." Kíli pleaded.

"No." Fíli answered. "I want you to look at me!"

Kíli turned around, facing his brother. But he kept his head bowed and stared at the ground.

"I want you to really look at me, Kíli."

Kíli started shaking and his shoulders were shocking softly.

"Kíli?" Fíli said, slightly worried.

Kíli suddenly lunged himself forward. Wrapping his arms around Fíli, he started to sob.

"I'm sorry, brother. I'm really sorry." Kíli said with a shaking voice.

Fíli carefully hugged him.

"It's alright. It really is." He said.

Kíli looked up at him with tear filled eyes.

"You're not angry at me?"

"Why would I be angry at you?" Fíli asked.

"I just yelled at you…" Kíli said softly, lowering his gaze.

"Kíli, how many times haven't we had an argument already? Did I ever stay angry?"

"No…"

"And I never will."

"You promise?" Kíli asked with a small voice.

"Ofcourse I do", Fíli replied. "You're my brother, Kíli. So no matter how angry I might be at times, it will never be for forever."

Fíli smiled at his brother. Kíli quickly dried his eyes and smiled back a little.

"See. That's already a lot better, isn't it?" Fíli remarked.

Kíli only nodded.

"Now, why don't you tell me how exactly you got those?" Fíli said, pointing to the food.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everyone!<br>**

**So here is Chapter 5. It took me longer to write this then I first tought.**

**When I tought I had finished writing it and was reading again in search of mistakes I might've missed, I came up with some things from that, as I tought, would fit in quite nicely. So I rewrote it a bit at the last minute.  
>This is for me the first chapter where I put so much emotion in it (in my opinion). So I really hope this worked out quite well.<br>****Also they will be at the lake for a little while longer. Originaly I told everything else what happend at the lake in this chapter.  
><strong>**But I decided to make two chapters of it, because it was nearly 8 pages long. Wich would've been a lot of text for you to read. Certainly if it was already written in type size 10 on my computer, wich is very small. **

**I hope you like it.  
>And as always, don't forget to R&amp;R ;)<strong>

**Alicia**

**And now on to the guest reviews.**

_**To 101olive4u: Thank you so much! I can't say how much I like it that you are still reading this.  
>I also can't thank you enough for all the kind reviews I got from you already. I hope you will enjoy this chapter to. ~<strong>**Alicia**_

_**To Shreeg: Haha, yeah that part was great. I was watching at a part from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey extended edition where the dwarves are swimming/Bathing/Playing (you can choose how you want to call it) at one of the waterfalls in Rivendel. So that's when I tought that using that in some sort would be fun. And, seeing your reaction, you really liked it ;)**_

_**It's indeed not that easy to write at times. But my second story, where I recently uploaded the first chapter from, is much harder to write at this moment (in my opinion).  
>I hope you will like this chapter as well. Thank you for your review!<strong>_

_**I hope you will keep reading ;)**_

_**Alicia**_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

They both sat down at the shore of the lake. Kíli removed his boots and, after placing them aside, putted his feet in the water.

"Now, why don't you start telling me? I want to know what you did today." Fíli said.

"Well, first I went to town. There were a lot of people there. And the merchants had placed their wares outside, so I took a look around. After a while I spotted Bofur, so I went to talk with him. Eventually he asked me to help him at his shop, wich I did. When we were finished it was already around noun, so I grew hungry. Since I didn't take something to eat with me, he gave me some money to buy something. He also told me I had to share it with you. And that's how I get the food." Kíli told him.

"You shouldn't have taken the money." Fíli replied.

"I know." Kíli said, looking a bit ashamed. "But he didn't take no for an answer. Please, don't tell uncle. He will only scold at me."

"If you don't want uncle to know, then I won't tell. But why do you think he will scold you for this?" Fíli asked.

"Uncle always taught us not to accept any money without doing something for it in return."

"But you did something for it in return, Kíli. You helped Bofur, didn't you?"

Kíli nodded.

"And besides, uncle will notice anyway. There will most likely be some of the food remaining after we are done eating, for I brought my own food with me. And I don't think we will eat all that just with the two of us."

"oh…" Kíli muttered, looking a bit distressed.

"Don't worry, Brother. Uncle won't scold at you for this." Fíli said, softly patting his brothers shoulder. "Now why don't we go eat something in the shadow of the trees? For it is much to warm to do it here."

"Okay." Kíli said. Putting on his boots again, he took the food and followed his brother to the trees.

When they reached the trees, Fíli grabbed his bag. Sitting in the grass, Fíli opened his bag and started taking the bread, cheese and apples he brought out of it. As they wanted to start eating, Lóni and Náli walked over to them and picked up their own bags. Fíli looked up at them and smiled.

"Finally made it out of the water?" Fíli asked at them with a wide grin on his face.

"Yes. It became a bit boring with just the two of us", Lóni replied. "And who's that?"

"This is Kíli. He's my younger brother", Kíli said. "And they are Lóni and Náli."

"Hello." Kíli said a bit shyly.

Both Náli and Lóni nodded their heads at him.

"Last time I saw you two, you were having a lot of fun." Fíli said, still smiling.

Well, in the beginning we had. But, like I said, it soon became very boring." Lóni answered.

"You wanted to leave it because you couldn't win of me." Náli remarked.

Lóni glared at him.

"Couldn't win with what?" Kíli piped in.

"Wrestling." Náli said.

"Can I try? Maybe I can." Kíli replied.

Lóni and Náli looked at each other in surprise and then started laughing.

"Maybe when you grow a little and have a bit more muscles, pipsqueak." Náli said.

"Don't call him like that!" Fíli retorted.

Fíli's words weren't heard however, for Náli and Lóni had started laughing again.

"How old or you pipsqueak? Eleven?" Lóni asked, joining in with Náli.

"I'm… I'm thirteen." Kíli replied, stuttering.

"Oh, thirteen… You certainly don't look like it. You're so small." Lóni said.

"Well, we're going to see where Bódin is hanging around. See ya!" Náli said.

Fíli glared at them as they walked away, still laughing.

He looked at Kíli, who had clenched his fist. Fíli could clearly see the pained expression on his brother's face.

"Kíli, I'm sorry."

"They hate me…" Kíli said. Pulling up his knees, he wrapped his arms around them and buried his face in his arms.

Fíli sighed and sat closer to Kíli.

"No, they don't!" Fíli said while laying an arm around his brother's shoulders. "They always say things like that, certainly when they learn to know someone new. They did that with me too the first time we met."

Kíli didn't look at him. That made him realise how much those words had hurted him. He needed to talk with his friends about this later.

"Come on, let's eat and then we can go home. At this, Kíli slowly looked up and nodded. After they had eaten a bit, Fíli putted the remaining food in his bag. When he was done with this, he hung his bag on his back and motioned to Kíli to follow him. Walking over to the buckets, he picked up the lightest bucket and gave it to Kíli. He took it without saying anything. Fíli picked up the other one. It was then that Bódin, Náli and Lóni returned.

"Are you going already?" Bódin asked to Fíli.

"Yes. We're going home." Fíli replied coldly.

"Okay then. See you next time."

Fíli merely nodded and started walking, closely followed by Kíli.

They walked on the path back home without saying a word to each other. When they reached the house, Fíli pushed the door open and let Kíli go inside first. Walking in himself, he closed the door behind him. They walked in the kitchen and placed the buckets and Fíli's bag in a corner of the room. At that moment Dís walked into the kitchen.

"Hello, my boys." She said with a smile. "What have you been doing today?"

Not even taking the time to answer his mother's question, Kíli ran out of the kitchen and through the hallway until he reached his bedroom. Slamming the door shut he threw himself on his bed.

Dís looked confused at Fíli. All traces of the smile that had graced her face only a moment before, had disappeared.

"What happened?" She asked to her oldest son.

"My friends teased him a bit and he took that the wrong way." Fíli said.

"And how come that he's with you? I tought he was going to the town."

"He did. But he joined me at the lake in the afternoun. I guess he had done everything he wanted to do in town." Fíli replied.

"Oh, so that's why", Dís said.

Fíli nodded. They kept silent for a moment, until Fíli spoke again.

"I think I should talk to him."

"Maybe you better should." Dís said.

"I'm sorry, mom." Fíli softly said.

"What for?"

"I never ment for them to hurt Kíli."

"Oh, sweetheart. It's not your fault." Dís replied.

"It feels like it is." Fíli said, with a guilty look on his face.

"I'm sure you tried to stop them teasing your brother, didn't you?"

"Yes, mom", Fíli replied. "But still, he must be so angry with me now."

"I don't think he is. I'm sure he knows that this isn't your fault. So he's not going to blame you for what happened", she said with a reassuring smile. "Now go talk to him."

Fíli nodded once and left the room.

Fíli knocked on his brother's door. Getting no reaction from within the room, he slowly opened the door. Kíli was lying on his bed, facing away from the door. He walked towards the bed and sat down on the other side of it, a little bit away from Kíli. He knew his brother didn't like it much at times if someone came to close when he was upset.

"Kíli?" Fíli whispered.

He received no answer. Standing up from the bed, Fíli walked around it and looked at Kíli. His brother's eyes were closed. Fíli smiled a little as he realised Kíli was fast asleep. He carefully pulled the covers over his brother. Walking out of the room, he softly closed the door behind him.

When he returned in the kitchen, Dís had already started preparing dinner. Fíli seated himself on a chair at the table.

"You're back fast. Didn't he want to talk?" Dís asked, briefly looking to him over her shoulder.

"Kíli was asleep, so I left him alone."

"Oh, well then let him sleep. Maybe he will feel a bit better again at diner." Dís said.

"I hope so." Fíli muttered.

He stood up from the table again and walked to his room. He laid himself down on his bed and stared at the ceiling, brooding about what happened today.

* * *

><p><strong>So this was chapter 6. I really hope you guys liked it!<br>**

**Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favored or followed Hunted! I really appreciate it!**

**Stay tuned for updates ;)**

**~Alicia~**

* * *

><p><strong>Guest reviews:<strong>

**To Shreeg: Yeah, it really was a sweet chapter. And I couldn't get it over my heart to let Fíli reject Kíli. And I think I will never be able to do that to Kíli, unless if I maybe push me to my limits. But we will see about that later, shall we?  
>Haha, no they never do stop making a mess out of everything. You only have to look at the place where they ate dinner in Rivendell. Food was lying around the entire place. Even sticking to some of the statues (certainly as Kíli throwes food right next to Lindir's face. Lindir's expression was such a great one after that).<br>That was really so good! First time I watched this scene I was trying to imagine the faces of Lindir, Elrond, Gandalf and other elves in the room, when that piece of food actually would've hit Lindir's face (I know, I'm cruel ;p). I also wondered how the dwarves would react at that. Probably they would congratulate Kíli and clap him on the shoulder. Okay, my imagination is taking a run with me again ;)  
>Thanks for reviewing and reading my story!<strong>

**Alicia**

**To 101olive4u: Thanks, darling. I'm really glad you like it that much ;)  
>It indeed is. I like to look deeper into their relationship. Can't help myself :p<br>You're very welcome! I can only return the favor. So I hope you liked chapter 6.  
>Let me know what you think about it ;)<strong>

**Alicia  
><strong>**:-***


	7. Author's Note

**Hi everyone.**

**With this I want to say that I will stop updating my stories.**

**Many thanks to everyone who left a review for me.**

**I wish you a happy 1st of april.**

**Much love,**

**Alicia**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Kíli slowly woke up from his slumber and noticed his blankets were pulled up until his shoulders.

"_I'm certain I didn't pull them on top of me before I fell asleep. But maybe I did pull them up in my sleep."_ He tought. _"It has gotten colder."_

Kíli sat up in his bed and shivered. He looked at the window, wich was opened. It was also growing dark outside already.

"I really can't have slept this long." Kíli muttered to himself while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

He pushed the blankets back, stepped out of the bed and walked to the door. Opening it, he walked in the hallway and went to the kitchen.

* * *

><p>Dís looked up when the door opened and smiled as Kíli walked in.<p>

"Did you sleep well, sweetie?" She asked him. Kíli nodded.

"How do you know I was sleeping?" Kíli replied.

"Fíli went to look for you after you ran out of the kitchen a couple of hours ago and found you asleep in your room. He came back here afterwards and told me."

Kíli looked around the room, but his brother wasn't there. Dís noticed him looking around.

"Fíli went to his room a little bit after he found you sleeping." Dís said, knowing who her youngest was looking for.

How could she not know. Fíli and Kíli always had been inseparable. Where one of them was, the other one could be found as well. And if they weren't near each other at times, they would eventually find a way to be so.

Kíli turned his gaze towards the door to the hallway. He didn't want anything else right now then to talk with his brother.

"Let him be for a while, Kíli. I think he wants to be alone right now."

Kíli looked back at his mother in disbelieve.

"But…"

"I mean it, Kíli."

At seeing his mother's stern look, Kíli casted his eyes down and said nothing.

They remained silent for a very long time, so Dís started to set the table.

"Mom?" Kíli suddenly said.

"Yes? What is it?" She asked him.

"I"m sorry I didn't answer your question when I got home. I'm sorry if I made you upset."

Dís sighed and turned around again to look at Kíli.

"I'm not angry at you, Kíli. I worried a bit when you ran out. That I surely did. But…"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Kíli answered, interrupting her.

"I know you didn't sweetie. Fíli explained everything what happened to me."

"When did he…" Kíli started asking, but stopped mid sentence.

"He told me while you were asleep. What happened made you really upset, didn't it?"

Kíli did only nod. Dís slowly walked over. Embracing him, she registered he was really tense. She started rubbing his back. After doing this for a while, she could feel her youngest son relax a little. She could only smile at that. Already since he was a small child doing this always helped when he was scared or sad. And now it seemed Kíli still liked to cuddle like that, especially when he's upset about something.

"_He has grown so much already. But I hope this won't change for a very long time."_ Dís thought to herself.

She released him so she could look at Kíli.

"I really think you should talk with Fíli later however. He feels really guilty." She said, looking closely at her youngest son.

"Why?" He asked in wonder.

"He blames himself for what his friends said to you. He thinks you're angry at him because of that." She explained.

"But I'm not! I can't believe he's really thinking that."

"Then tell him that later, alright. I'm sure it will make him feel better." Dís said.

"Oh ok… Mom? Why is uncle not home yet?" He asked, chosing to change the topic.

"I don't know." She answered.

Come to think of it, Thorin was never late. Not without coming home for dinner and telling them he had some work to finish at the forge still. And now it was time for dinner and there still was no sign of him, wich surprised her.

"Would you want to do something for me?" She asked to Kíli.

"Ofcourse!" Came his reply.

"Can you go to forge and tell your uncle that dinner's ready?"

"Sure." He said, walking to the kitchendoor and walking in the hallway.

"Thank you, my sweet boy." Dís said, smiling at him.

"Now, go on. Dinner's not going to wait!" She told him.

Kíli grinned at that statement and, after opening the front door, started running to the forge as fast as he could. When he reached the forge, Kíli noticed the door was standing open and he could hear his uncle talking to someone. Whoever the customer was, he was certainly late.

"_I wonder who that customer is." _He thought to himself before he walked inside.

* * *

><p>When the last customer had left with his finished order, Thorin sighed and stretched himself out. His muscles were stiff and painfull. He couldn't be more glad the day was over.<p>

Gathering his tools together, he started cleaning them. As he was finished with this he picked up his list with new orders for the next day, sat down and started to sort them out by their urgency. He looked up again when the door opened and stood up to welcome his costumer. Thorin was surprised as he noticed the dwarf that had just entered was dressed in armour.

"Good evening. What can I do for you?" he asked to his unusual customer.

"I came here to ask you for a favour." The dwarf said.

"I am listening." Thorin answered. "But maybe you can first tell me who you are? It isn't usual for someone who serves in the army to come here. Because the army has it's own forge and blacksmith if I remembered correctly."

"Ofcourse, sir." The dwarf said. "I'm Darkhûn. I was assigned a month ago as the new general of the army after the former one retired. Am I correct to assume you are Thorin Oakenshield?"

"You are. I also remember your assignment, for I signed the papers. But I don't think we've met before in person." Thorin replied, stretching out his hand. The other dwarf took it, but clearly wasn't all to comfortable about it. Thorin looked at the dwarf in front of him, before releasing his hand.

"The army indeed has it's own forge. So that's not why I'm here."

"Then why are you here, general? What can I offer the army then?" Thorin questioned.

"Your services, but outside the forge. The army needs a new archery teacher and we heard you are a very skilled archer."

"That depends on what you call skilled." Thorin replied.

"That's why we would like you to show us how skilled you truly are." Darkhûn said. "But we will pay you ofcourse, if you would decide to accept the job."

"I thought the army had it's achery teacher already." Thorin remarked.

"We had. But he resigned two days ago. He found teaching some of the new recruits a waste of his time."

"Uhm, excuse me, but I would like to speak with him." Someone suddenly said.

Both Thorin and the general turned around to see who had spoken. Their eyes fell on Kíli, who was standing near the door. Darkhûn clearly didn't like the interruption.

"You disrespectfull brat! You should know better then to interfere when adults are talking with each other!" He barked.

Kíli walked some steps backwards and closer to door, ready to run. He looked at Thorin, slightly frightened.

"Mind your words, general!" Thorin snapped at the other dwarf. " You are not in the position nor in the right place to put anyone in place like this! Do that to the soldiers who are under your command, but not to the lad!"

Darkhûn looked really surprised at Thorin. He didn't expect to get such an outburst.

"Kíli! Come over here, lad." Thorin called out to the younger dwarf.

Kíli walked over to his uncle, timidly watching the strange dwarf. When Kíli had reached him, Thorin gently laid an arm around his nephew's shoulders. It was clear to him Kíli wasn't at ease with the other dwarf so close. Thorin gave his youngest nephew a reassuring smile before turning his attention back to the dwarf that was standing in front of him.

"You know this brat, sir?" The dwarf said in disbelieve.

Thorin raised his eyebrow.

"Yes, I do. He's my nephew, so I would really apreciate it if you wouldn't speak about him in such a way ever again. Did I make myself clear general?" Thorin replied.

"Ah. Y-yes sir." Darkhûn stammered. "Forgive me."

"We will continue talking about this later. It is getting late and I think we both would like to head home."

"As you wish." The general replied, not all to happy about the quick dismissal. He turned around and marched out of the forge, dissapearing in the night.

Thorin looked down at Kíli, who still was a bit tense.

"It's alright, lad." Thorin said. "Relax. He left and he's not coming back soon."

Kíli relaxed himself a little and stared up at his uncle.

"You're sure?" Kíli asked with a small voice.

Thorin nodded and smiled at him.

"I'm sure. Did your mother send you here?"

This time Kíli nodded.

"She told me to tell you that dinner's ready and that it's not going to wait."

"Well, then we better hurry." Thorin replied, while he picked up his worklist. "I can still finish those at home. Come, let's go home."

Thorin started to walk to the door and Kíli followed him. Once they both were outside, Thorin digged a key out of his pocket and locked the door. He let it slip back in his pocket and started to walk down the path to the house with Kíli walking next to him.

* * *

><p><strong>So here I am again!<strong>

**I hope everyone enjoyed my little prank I did for the 1st of april *grins***

**I'm sorry but I really couldn't help it. I really wanted to do something! And some of the reactions I got were so funny!**

**So I want to thank the one's who made me really laugh that day *wink***

**Anyway, this time it's really the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

**-Alicia-**


	9. Author's Note 2

**Hi everyone!**

**First of all I'm sorry that this isn't an update.  
>I know many of you are most likely waiting for an update. <strong>

**It has been more than a year since I last updated any of my stories, wich I am really sorry for.  
>Unfortunately I started working at a company where I had applied for a job almost two months after I last updated my stories "Hunted" and "Left Behind". And, even though I really love my job and doing things that I always wanted to do but were just to expensive, it left me with little time to write. And on top of that I struggled with a writers block for several months after that. By now I have started writing again quite a while back, but I have barely had any time to do so. And because I'm also a perfectionist, it isn't really getting anywhere at the moment because I keep changing and adding things or quickly making notes on whatever piece of paper I have at hand that I have now more than 20 pieces of paper with parts of future chapters on it that still have to be connected to the part of the chapters I already have and being changed so that they fit into the story. And now things got even more busy for me and it leaves me with even lesser time to write. But I hope everything will be mostly over and done with in a month from now. Then I will be able to devote me more to writing again. <strong>

**I know it's a little late, but I wish all of you out there a lot of luck and happyness in 2016!**

**All I have to say still now is that I am so grateful for all the ones following me and leaving me a review. Those mean so much to me. Without you all I most likely wouldn't have enjoyed this so much as I do now. Who knows, maybe I even wouldn't have continued by now. You all are the ones that keep me going. Thank you all so much for that!**

**Also I got to know some fellow writers rather well and have had many long chats with them, wich I really enjoy. I even had the honor to meet one of them already in person. Thank you Death to elves, Mira Meliandra and avaes for the many nice chats we had so far, for supporting me unconditionally and being so nice to me. **

**Well, that's all for now. Hope to be back as soon as possible with a new chapter.**

**Much love, **

**Alicia**


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